The Irish Sea border is an informal term for the trade border between

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. It was specified by the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol of the

Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

(February 2020), was refined by the Joint Committee in December 2020, and came into effect on 1 January 2021 following the end of the

Brexit transition period The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

. As a result of the Agreement, Northern Ireland remains aligned to the European Single Market in a limited way for goods, whilst remaining part of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

customs territory and the UK internal market. Its effect is that the need for customs checks on the

Irish border Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

has been avoided, and a

hard border The impact of Brexit on the Irish border and its adjacent polities involves changes in trade, customs, immigration checks, local economies, services, recognition of qualifications, medical cooperation, and other matters, now that it is the o ...

has not been re-established. This Irish Sea border was the option taken by Prime Minister Johnson in October 2019 to break the impasse of the "Brexit Trilemma" (of three competing objectives: no hard border on the island; no Irish Sea border; and no British participation in the European Single Market and the

European Union Customs Union The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekel ...

: it is not possible to have all three.) Under the terms of Article 18 of the protocol, the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = S ...

has the power (after 31 December 2024) to decide whether to terminate or continue the protocol arrangements. "The Withdrawal Agreement doesn’t state how Northern Ireland should give consent

o continue O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...

– it is for the UK to determine how that decision is made" but the UK Government has already declared that the decision will be made by a simple majority of Assembly members. In the event that consent is not given, the arrangements would cease to apply two years thereafter. The Joint Committee would make alternative proposals to the UK and EU to avoid a hard border on the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. If consent is given, then the question may be put again after a further four years. At the

2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three month ...

, parties favouring continuance of the protocol won 53 of the 90 seats.

Implications

When crossing from

into Northern Ireland, people carrying more than €10,000 (or equivalent) in cash are required to follow the same laws as when travelling from Great Britain to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. (An initial plan to require

pet passport The Pet Travel Scheme ("PETS") is a system which allows animals to travel easily between member countries without undergoing quarantine. A pet passport is a document that officially records information related to a specific animal, as part of th ...

s has been suspended indefinitely while negotiations continue.)

Controversies

While conducting Brexit negotiations during her term as British Prime Minister,

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

stated "no UK prime minister could ever agree" to an Irish Sea border. Similarly, in August 2020,

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

said that "There will be no border down the Irish Sea – over my dead body". The

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

(DUP) supported Brexit, but "opposed the protocol and voted against it in the House of Commons." Some Unionists, according to ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', believed that: "the Brexit deal has cut NI adrift from the rest of the UK, pushing Belfast further away from London, paving the way for an economic united Ireland", and

loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

called for the arrangement to be removed or, furthermore, for the collapse of the devolved administration. The governing DUP, however, said that "It would be a foolish idea to collapse devolution. It would remove the party who opposed the NI Protocol and give all power for Northern Ireland back to the UK government, who created and implemented the NI Protocol." Speaking before Westminster voted to ratify the Trade Agreement,

Lord Empey Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey, (born 26 October 1947), best known as Reg Empey, is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland, who was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2005 to 2010. He was the chairman of th ...

(chairman of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

) argued that the Protocol came about because the DUP had indicated acceptance of it. He said that he had "pointed out that, immediately this document was released, Arlene Foster and her DUP colleagues endorsed these proposals, describing them as 'a serious and sensible way forward'". In January 2021, graffiti reading "all border control post staff are targets" was painted onto a wall near Larne port. On 1 February,

DAERA The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is a government department in the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved administration for Northern Ireland. The minister with overall responsibility for the department i ...

instructed Border Control Post staff in Larne and Belfast to "temporarily suspend" physical controls on Products of Animal Origin, pending talks with the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

(PSNI), due to threats to the safety of staff. "Full documentary checks" continued as usual.

2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election

At the election to the

in May 2022, parties opposed to the very principle of a distinct arrangement for Northern Ireland (the

(DUP), Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) and two Independent Unionists) secured just 28 of the 90 seats. The position of the

(UUP), which secured nine seats, is more measured: although opposed to the protocol as it stands, the party would accept it given significant changes. Even with the UUP opposed, this suggests a 5337 vote in favour of continuance.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Borders of the United Kingdom 2021 establishments in Northern Ireland 2021 in international relations Internal borders of the United Kingdom

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...